The Rafah crossing has opened to allow a limited number of people to cross from beseiged Gaza into Egypt. It is expected that foreign nationals, dual-passport holders and some of the most seriously injured will be allowed through by Egyptian authorities, in a deal said to be brokered by Qatar.
Images showed families and vehicles queueing up to exit Gaza, amid reports that Egypt would allow in 81 seriously injured people. A line of ambulances was seen waiting to take the sick and injured.
AFP reports it was not immediately clear how many people managed to leave via Rafah on Gaza’s southern border with Egypt, but live footage from the scene showed crowds of people entering the Palestinian side of the terminal. It said 400 foreigners and dual nationals were expected to make the crossing.
The UK foreign secretary, James Cleverly, said on social media: “The Rafah crossing is likely to open today for a first group of foreign nationals. UK teams are ready to assist British nationals as soon as they are able to leave. It’s vital that lifesaving humanitarian aid can enter Gaza as quickly as possible.”
It would mark the first time people have been allowed to leave Gaza since Israel began its latest aerial bombardment, which has killed thousands of Palestinians, on 7 October. Israel launched the attacks after the Hamas massacre inside Israel.
The move comes as the telecoms providers Paltel and Jawwal reported a “complete disruption” of communications and internet services in Gaza, the second major cut in five days. Humanitarian aid agencies have warned that such blackouts severely disrupt their work in an already dire situation in Gaza.
Israel has said that the total number of IDF soldiers killed in combat in Gaza has risen to 13, Haaretz reports.
Earlier, Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that “Our soldiers have fallen in the most just of wars, the war for our home. I promise the citizens of Israel: We will complete the work – we will continue until victory.”
Two British nationals are expected to be among the first group of foreign passport-holders to evacuate through the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, opening for the first time on Wednesday in more than three weeks since the brutal conflict began.
British nationals Abdel Hammad, a transplant surgeon from Liverpool, and Charles Birch, who was working with the United Nations in Gaza, are expected to be among the first foreign passport holders to be evacuated, the Guardian understands. It is understood that the Rafah border crossing today will open “for limited exits”, primarily for seriously wounded Palestinians and a first group of foreign nationals.
On Wednesday morning, the Foreign Office said the Israeli and Egyptian authorities will determine “who is allowed to cross, at which time” and that a full list of names of British nationals and dependants in Gaza has been provided to the Israeli and Egyptian authorities. Messages will be sent from the Foreign Office requesting individuals travel to the border crossing once they receive confirmation that individuals are permitted to cross.
“It’s such a relief the last three weeks have just been really surreal, like a bit of a bad dream really, waiting to hear from him,” said Abdel’s son, Salim Hammad, a 34-year-old doctor in Oxford.
“When communications have been coming and going especially this morning when communication was cut and there was a chance he might be able to leave but there’s no way we can tell him he can get to the border – yeah, that was stressful,” said Salim.
“We’re really just looking forward to be able to get him back, hopefully,” he said.
Abdel, a transplant surgeon from Liverpool, arrived in Gaza a day before the conflict began on 7 October with a transplant charity endorsed by the World Health Organization.
Al Jazeera reports that in the last hour “telecommunications company Jawwal announced … internet connections and mobile networks in the Gaza Strip are gradually being restored”.
Palestinian authorities have said on social media that “dozens of Palestinians were martyred and many others were injured” in the strike today on the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.
The BBC has announced it is launching an emergency radio service for Gaza in response to the conflict in the region.
In a statement, the BBC said: “It will provide listeners in Gaza with the latest information and developments as well as safety advice on where to access shelter, food and water supplies.” The service will initially consist of one bulletin a day on medium wave broadcast at 1500 GMT from Friday.
Here are some of the latest images sent to us over the news wires from Gaza and Israel.
On reports of the Jabalia refugee camp being struck by Israel for the second consecutive day, Al Jazeera’s Safwat Kahlout, who is in Khan Younis in the south of Gaza, has reported:
The al-Falouja area [where the strike is reported to have been] is one of the most crowded in the Jabalia refugee camp. We are trying to contact sources and our relatives in Jabalia but because of the communications blackout we cannot get more information at this time.
The health ministry in Gaza says 8,796 Palestinians, including 3,648 children, have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel began its campaign of airstrikes and incursions in response to the Hamas attack inside Israel on 7 October.
The figures from the Hamas-run ministry have not been independently verified.
It is believed that 1.4 million people in Gaza have been displaced from their homes. The Rafah crossing has been opened for the first time since 7 October today, and it is expected that up to 500 foreign nationals and 81 seriously wounded people may be allowed to leave the Gaza Strip.
Italy’s foreign minister said he hoped the first Italian citizens could leave Gaza on Wednesday.
Citing the Ansa newswire, Reuters reports Antonio Tajani said: “The first corridor in Rafah has been opened and people have started to leave. I hope that the first Italian can start leaving. Our embassy in Cairo is ready to welcome our fellow Italians that will leave.”
With the earlier reported communications blackout in Gaza it is difficult for journalists to report what is happening on the ground, but at the moment Al Jazeera is carrying news that Jabalia refugee camp in the north of the Gaza Strip has been struck again.
Wael Dahdouh reported for the network that buildings had been levelled after the camp was targeted by Israeli warplanes in what was described as “intense, indiscriminate shelling”.
Al Jazeera reports that hundreds of people are feared to be trapped and buried under the rubble, and that Israel had earlier dropped leaflets telling Palestinians to leave the refugee camp.
Haaretz reports that “footage from the area shows smoke billowing over a compound containing several buildings.”
Israel yesterday said it struck the camp in an attempt to kill the local Hamas battalion commander Ibrahim Biari, who it believes was involved in the militant group’s 7 October attacks. AFP witnessed at least 47 bodies being recovered from the scene yesterday.
More details soon …
Austria’s main Jewish leader said on Wednesday that a fire was set during the night in the Jewish section of Vienna’s central cemetery and swastikas were sprayed on external walls.
AP reports that the president of the Jewish community of Vienna, Oskar Deutsch, wrote on social media that the fire burned the entrance lobby to a ceremonial hall but did not cause any injuries. The fire service and police were investigating, he said.
Patrick Wintour is the Guardian’s diplomatic editor:
Western officials said they expected the Rafah crossing to be open for “controlled and time-limited periods” to allow specific groups of foreign nationals and the seriously wounded to evacuate Gaza.
The list of those evacuating has been agreed between Egypt and Israel, with embassies from the relevant countries being informed in advance to ensure they can prepare to receive their nationals.
As a result, it is likely the departure of British nationals from Gaza will take place in stages over the coming days.
The UK Foreign Office has said it sent a Border Force team to Cairo and has forward-deployed a team of consular officials to Arish, close to Rafah, to ensure it can provide the necessary medical, consular and administrative support needed.
The team said it had set up a reception centre to welcome British nationals who have left and have arranged accommodation.
Indonesia’s foreign ministry has said it has started its efforts to evacuate its nationals from Gaza, some of whom could leave “possibly today”.
In a press conference, the foreign affairs minister, Retno Marsudi, said the movement of Indonesians out of the beseiged Gaza Strip could not be done at once and must be gradual, with safety the priority.
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2023-11-01 11:12:04Z
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